Generation Triple X – Responding to our ‘Pornified’ Culture

Even the secular world is worried about pornography. But without the worldview to fight it, they’re at an impasse. This is where the church can help.

We’re not in the age of Playboy anymore. Teenagers and children once had to stumble upon a friend’s magazine stash or face a convenience store clerk to get their hands on pornography.

But these days porn is available at the tap of a finger—on computers, smart phones, tablets, and cable television. So much so that even secular consciences are prickling.

A survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that only 29 percent of Americans believe consuming pornography is morally acceptable. A full 77 percent of women condemn it, and despite the fact that roughly half of American men are hooked on it, 65 percent of them say they disapprove. Deep in their hearts, most Americans just know it’s wrong.

But without appealing to Christian morality, justifying their aversion to pornography is a challenge—although they have come up with several interesting theories.

Many experts are treating porn addiction like a disease. Writing in the Daily Mail, British psychotherapist John Woods describes how many of his young patients spend hours a day indulging their obsession at the expense of schoolwork, relationships, and jobs. They end up in his office after their habits take them beyond the limits of what’s legal—and police come knocking at the parents’ doors.